


Paternal Instincts

by thatweebfrommiddleschool



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst, Angst disguised as fluff, Children, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, daddy issues everywhere, flangst, fluff disguised as angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-25
Updated: 2014-09-03
Packaged: 2018-02-10 08:51:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2018799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatweebfrommiddleschool/pseuds/thatweebfrommiddleschool
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Come back to Tokyo to visit your team mates, Himuro Tatsuya said. What could possibly go wrong, he said. As fate would have it, it took just one night back in Japan to send things to shit. When the Generation of Miracles is inexplicably changed into children overnight, Nijimura finds himself having to take care of the brats yet again, as well as lingering (and mutual) feelings for his former vice captain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Come back to Tokyo to visit your team mates, Himuro Tatsuya said. What could possibly go wrong, he said. As fate would have it, it took just one night back in Japan to send things to shit. 

Having successfully completed two years in America, Nijimura felt an unprecedented sense of peace. His father's surgery had gone terrifically and his rehabilitation, while slow, was already off to a great start. The Nijimura household could finally relax. Act like a normal family, even. Dad's discharge was imminent (within the year, their doctor had promised) and neither brother showed signs of the delinquent phase that Nijimura spent sleepless nights berating himself over. There was even talk of moving back to Japan, back to how things should have always been. No more working part time at McDonald's on weekday's and some run-down Cantonese place on weekends. No more struggling through American school (English was never his strong suit) and (barely) suppressing his fists at the endless stream of prejudice. 

So when Tatsuya suggested that he come to Tokyo for a vacation during their weekly Skype calls, the eldest son was all too eager to buy a ticket for the next flight back home. 

"Everyone's been dying to see you again, Shuu," Tatsuya all but sang the night before Nijimura's return. "Atsushi's been pacing constantly and-"  
"Niji-chin," Murasakibara appeared, barely able to fit his upper body onto the monitor. "Did you really pack the American snacks I asked for? Are you sure they can get through customs?"  
"Surely I'm more than a cheap, Western cavity supplier," Nijimura interjected, waving the bag of candies around. "I even bought some novelty treats from my neighbors." Murasakibara's expression shifted from anxiety to awe.  
"Niji-chin is the best! Please keep them safe on the flight!" Tatsuya's look of hurt was ignored as the giant exited the screen to brush his teeth.  
"Sorry about that. I've been trying to work with Astushi on manners, but..."  
"It's fine, I've dealt with much worse from him. 'Niji-chin' is progress enough for me." Nijimura chuckled. "You ought to get some rest, and I've gotta leave for my flight soon." Nodding, Tatsuya gave a few polite parting words and ended the call. Nijimura stowed his laptop and gift bag in his backpack and hailed a cab to take him to LA International Airport. 

 

Nijimura was no stranger to apprehension, and doubts over his vacation began the moment the plane took off. The itinerary was simple: one week in Tokyo with his old underclassmen. But not everyone had the Generation of Miracles as their underclassmen. And not everyone failed the Generation of Miracles as bad as he did. Tatsuya was quick to fill him in on everything once Murasakibara opened up to him. From the giant manchild's lingering tendency to imprint on to the nearest source of authority to Teikou's third consecutive national title, Nijimura added Tatsuya's stories to his rough phase as things that kept him up at night. If he had been strong enough to stay ahead of Aomine's progress. If he had been too weak for Teikou's third string but also too weak to take his issues to the streets and make Dad sick... it was pointless to think about, but Nijimura could not help but imagine these routes. The Generation of Miracles might not have bloomed and broken so violently. He might not have avoided his past so vehemently it took months of coaxing from Tatsuya and a long list of excuses with 'family' hastily painted on them to accept the devastation he had enabled. 

Nijimura pulled out his phone with the intention of 2048-ing away from the subject. Halfway across the ocean, he caved and opened his messages to reflect upon his last conversation related to Teikou. 

_Nijimura Shuuzou, 19:21 PM: We need to talk. About the day I made you captain. Sorry I kinda ran away there btw, it was a pretty stressful time. Still is._  
 _Akashi Seijuurou, 19:22 PM: Of course. Your emotional strife was understandable. Losing a parent is... far from easy._  
 _Akashi Seijuurou, 19:24 PM: What is it that you wished to talk about? Do you find issue with my leadership?_  
 _Nijimura Shuuzou, 19:24 PM: Kind of. You're doing great, congrats on another nationals. Bur_  
 _Akashi Seijuurou, 19:25 PM: Then I fail to see what the issue is. Teikou's philosophy has been upheld and the Generation of Miracles have never played so prodigiously._  
 _Nijimura Shuuzou, 19:25 PM: *But._  
 _Akashi Seijuurou, 19:25 PM: Perhaps they respect me as much as they did for you. Talent is what it is, however, and I am pleased to inform you that Interhigh and the Winter Cup next year will be worth a trip back here._  
 _Akashi Seijuurou, 20:10 PM: Nijimura-san?_  
 _Akashi Seijuurou, 23:55 PM: ?_

But don't destroy yourselves trying to forge perfection. But 111-11? But have you even taken my advice into consideration recently? But are you personally ok with the team's move away from team play?

_But do you still love me?_

 

Nijimura was pulled out of this trance by the pilot announcing that they were within fifteen minutes of landing. He turned his phone off with a scowl and tried to appreciate the fact that Japanese was the primary language again. Now all he had to do was grab his checked bag and wait for Tatsuya to pick him up. 

 

 

Their youth hostel was, whether conveniently or cruelly, he could not decide, located a little away from downtown Tokyo's chaos and just blocks away from a large system of outdoor basketball courts. The group checked out four rooms in total, splitting the bill evenly. It was still a bit of a strain and Nijimura was glad the money he saved up from his two jobs didn't need to go to supporting his family anymore. Kise, Midorima, and Akashi had taken the smallest room. Tatsuya, Murasakibara, and Aomine claimed the largest room. The 'chaperones' group (Alex of all people and Momoi) and Nijimura's own room (shared with Kuroko and Kagami, Tatsuya's former object of eternal fraternal love) were about in between. One look at Kagami and Nijimura was tempted to lobby Tatsuya to get his group a larger room (albeit further from the others). His protest went unspoken, however, when Akashi offered to take the smallest room and Murasakibara's freaking _mountain_ of snacks were found to be already settled into a corner of the largest room. Kagami immediately began to bicker with Aomine about the possibility of trading rooms. This quickly turned into a scuffle and ended with Aomine stepping onto a portion of the candy mountain. 

Within five minutes of arrival, the atmosphere changed from jetlagged yet excited to Hell breaking lose. Kuroko and Momoi unsuccessfully tried to break up a food fight. Tatsuya alternated between calming a fuming Murasakibara and dipping into the increasingly physical conflict. It had now grown to include Midorima, who insisted that the group 'retire immediately for an auspicious amount of sleep', and Kise, whose less than eloquent argument was, 'if y'all don't shut the fuck up and let me sleep now, you WILL buy me anti-aging cream for a year'. Alex chose the path of neutrality. Although she did give Nijimura a look that suggested he let the group solve it on their own when he made a move to pull Aomine and Kagami apart. 

Akashi (of course) was outside the large room in the hall, as if he was waiting for Nijimura to make his escape. _Perhaps the hell room doesn't seem so bad anymore._  
"Oi," Nijimura attempted a joke. "What are you gonna do about this?"  
"Let them fall," Akashi remained passive. "They need to get back up on their own."  
Nijimura had seen Akashi in various states at Teikou. Excited for a good game. Uncharacteristically (although that word needed serious reevaluation if Tatsuya was a reliable narrator) severe with Haizaki. But nothing resembled the way Akashi slowly sighed. It was almost like an aura of defeat on him, alien and sickening. Nijimura made no moves to break this mood. How could one make conversation in such as inhospitable environment? 

"Niji-chin," It was soon penetrated by a puffy-eyed Murasakibara. Never had that stupid nickname sounded so great. "Can I have the American snacks now?" He was followed out into the hall by Momoi, Alex, and Tatsuya, all of whom looked relieved. "The others wanna try them too... Kise-chin says he's on a diet and they're stupid, so we gotta prove him wrong." Nijimura rushed back to his room to retrieve the snack bag and poured most of its contents into Murasakibara's oversized hands. The giant disappeared into his room to share 'Niji-chin-senpai's' gift. A wave of relief could be heard from within the room and was very evident on his companions' faces. 

"It would be best to return to our rooms." Akashi was quick to recover. "Some of the group still needs to unpack, and it would be nice to get a full night's sleep before our 8:00 AM practice game." _Just when was this practice game decided?_

Nijimura nodded dumbly as Momoi and Alex left for their room. The hall was uncomfortably empty again. He really was tired, having always been a sucker for jet lag. Akashi picked up on it and nodded curtly before turning towards the room. 

"I am exhausted," he said in a rather unconvincing way. "and you should get some sleep, too." 

"Uh," now the ball was in his court. _Fuck, think of something!_ "Thanks." 

"You are welcome."

"You, too..." Jeez. _Way to go, you fourteen year old girl._ Nijimura stuffed the near-empty bag into Akashi's hands. " 'Night." 

"...goodnight." at least Akashi's need to have the last word hadn't disappeared since graduation. Nijimura could hear the soft tear of a wrapper as he fled into his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first fic in years. Sorry if it's a bit rusty. Feedback is always appreciated :)


	2. Teething Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nijimura was not looking forward to seeing Akashi the next morning. The fact that the boy was just 145 cm now did little to improve things.

In Los Angeles, Nijimura would wake up to three things:  
1\. The rattle and shiver of the Metra line located right outside of his family's tiny apartment as it tore through his dreams, both nocturnal and basketball-related.  
2\. The poorly-muffled sighs of his mother as she fastened her apron in the foyer and left for work.  
3\. The soft creak and patters of his siblings slipping in to his room, followed by the rustle of his duvet as they wrung the remnants of drowsiness from him.

This morning, in a cheap youth hostel, Nijimura awoke to the rattle of hiss of the screen door to his shared room, followed by skillfully muted footsteps that drew closer to his futon, then a tiny yet firm pat on his shoulder. Nijimura rolled over to clamp his hand down on the tiny child now crouched by his side. 

"Five more minutes, little bro," Saturday was sleep-in day. At least his mother was kind enough to send his brother, who was far more delicate in waking up technique. "There's leftover curry in the fridge."  
"I'd much prefer tofu soup," the tiny voice replied. _Still no signs of puberty, huh._ "Thank you for the offer, though."  
Nijimura ruffled the boy's silky hair. _Wait... silky?_ No one in his family had silky hair. The options were coarse or coarser. It took him five minutes to comb out his siblings' hair. No matter how short he cut it or what kind of product he bought, the endeavor always left them rubbing their eyes. Nijimura cracked an eye open, finding a little boy who sure as hell wasn't his little brother. "Holy shit."  
"Don't swear. It's barbaric." Akashi attempted a frown that looked more like a pout on his cherubic face. The bizarrely small boy raised a finger to Nijimura's upper lip when he began to move out of his futon. "Also, we need to talk." 

The next thing he knew, Nijimura was being dragged out of his room and in to the hall by some runt (no more than 145 cm, he guessed) _who was no way in hell Akashi, because that would make no fucking sense_. Akashi stopped a little ways away from their rooms and sat down with his legs crossed. Criss-cross applesauce, as his brothers would say.  
"Just what the he-" now it was Nijimura's turn to put a finger muzzle on Akashi. "...heck. Is. Going. On?" There was that stupidly cute pout again.  
"It seems as if I have reverted to a ten year old state."  
"Then why do you still talk like a pretentious grandpa at the country club?"  
"Because..." Akashi seemed genuinely hurt by this statement. Suddenly, he let out a huff and turned away. "It just happened, ok?"  
"Whoa, my bad." Whatever was going on, nothing could be improved by picking fights with a child. Nijimura shuffled to face Akashi, sitting criss-cross applesauce. "Do you have any idea _why_ this happened? Are the others like this, too?"  
"I checked everyone's rooms. Only you, Momoi, Himuro, and Mis. Garcia are unaffected. The rest are still asleep. From what I could tell without waking them, we have been reverted back to our child selves. However, our ages vary." _From devil to angel in seconds._ At least Akashi was taking the change as a whole pretty well. _The others, however..._

As if on que, a tiny sneeze alerted the two to Kuroko's presence. Kuroko looked to be about seven years old, and he had to move carefully to avoid being swallowed by his pajamas.  
"It got you, too," Kuroko sized up Akashi before looking up at Nijimura. "Nijimura-senpai, why are you normal?"  
"That's what we've been trying to figure out," coming from anyone else, that would have sounded like an insult. It sort-of did when his classmates joked about how Aomine could go toe-to-toe with him. It became second only to his father's suffering when he could no longer hold a candle to his regulars. "It's a bit odd that Akashi is ten while you're seven. Do you have any guesses?"  
"I'm ten, too." Oh great, another pissed off half-pint. "Perhaps it was the-" Kuroko was cut off by a shriek that sent him running to their room without a moment's hesitation.  
"The others will be waking up soon," Akashi said as he pulled Nijimura by the index finger back to the group. "Please wake up the adults. I will do my best to keep them calm in the meantime." 

Nijimura swung back into his room. Tatsuya was already there, cradling a hiccuping Kagami while Kuroko held his partner's hand. "I'll wake up the girls. You sure you got this?" Tatsuya chuckled as if to say, _this is nothing compared to our worst days. When it was_ you _who needed saving, remember?_

Momoi and Alex's room was right in the middle of the action. Upon entering, Nijimura found both women to be gone already. Momoi was (shockingly) already with Aomine, scolding (double bonus!) the adolescent as he muttered something about 'the American lady with gigantic boobies'. Said American lady was trying to soothe a hyperventilating Muraskibara. Damn kid was still over 170 cm, however old he was now. 'Tatsuya is with Kagami,' he mouthed to her. Alex nodded and guided the literal manchild to Nijimura's room. 

Akashi made a beeline for Nijimura's legs upon his entrance while dodging a shower loofah and green rubber ducky. The place was an explosion of scent and color, with various beauty products lining the walls and Zodiac-themed air fresheners hanging from the ceiling among other clutter. A smaller pile of red luggage was pushed to the sidelines of this territorial dispute. Nijimura had worked with Kise and Midorima on managing their lockers several times at Teikou. If they wanted to keep up with their 'bullshit diva antics', they would have to at least be organized. He was unsure of how useful those interventions had been as he noted that all objects were in rainbow order but taking up all non-futon space. The fact that they were now elementary schoolers probably did not help the unpacking process. Kise and Midorima now stood in their respective messes. Both boys were red-faced and struggling to hold in their emotions. 

"Their stuff is crossing the line," Akashi whispered from behind Nijimura's knees. He pointed at a perfectly straight red line of tape that divided the room into three perfectly equal parts. Indeed, junk was spilling far over the tape borders and provoking a crisis of utmost importance to the room mates. Nijimura could barely contain the urge to dole out forehead flicks and laps. "Make them stop it. Please."  
"I just want my kale shake," Kise fumed. "But Midorima stole the kale because it's his lucky item for today. And the other ingredients are so far buried in his crap that I just might-"  
"This heathen," Midorima snapped. "Is intentionally sabotaging the _feng shui_ of the room because he cannot accept a small sacrifice for the fate of the cosmos. Do you think I am not hungry as well? Oha Asa ranked Cancers as most likely to starve for everything today: food, relationships, and even respectable room mates."  
Now it was Nijimura's turn to unleash his wrath. The group couldn't even make to breakfast without some incident to make him lose his temper.  
"For fuck's sake," Nijimura delivered his worst forehead flicks to Kise and Midorima, ignoring Akashi's pout and foot stomping. "I don't care how old you guys are, but not even Haizaki would dare act out over such trivial matters. Can you all stop being pubescent douches and get over yourselves?" _Oh great, I'm shouting at children now._ Kise and Midorima exchanged guilty looks, watery eyes finally spilling over, and Akashi was torn between burying his face in Nijimura's sweatpants and retreating to his corner. 

The tense atmosphere Nijimura had dug himself into was once again saved by reinforcements. Alex and Himuro rushed in, glaring daggers before wiping Kise and Midorima's eyes. Akashi took a second to react, then decided to break from his person with a 'hmph!' before dashing out of the battle zone. Nijimura groaned, jogging over to Momoi. She was still with Aomine, this time humming a lullaby as the latter nodded off in her lap.  
"We won't last two days like this," she murmured, pointing towards a pile of notes and pink graphing calculator. "The rooms here are too small and run down to foster a stress-free, open environment for the kids. And we can barely keep the kids in line."  
"What do you propose?" Momoi's calculations had always been right. Even coach Shirogane had put absolute trust in her ideas.  
"One, the group's mood could be improved at least thirty percent if they could have a full breakfast. Two, we phone in some friends, as they would help us out and add another fifteen percent. Kise and Midorima made some pretty useful connections at their high schools. They are second to none in terms of controlling the boys. And a high adult:child ratio would strengthen our authority here."  
"Sounds likes our best route, then." What other option did he have? What else could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Criss-cross applesauce is too fun to write. It must be banned from the English language. The ending of this chapter was meh, I may edit it later. EDIT: rewrote a few things, but nothing plot-altering. Hopefully there are no more grammar mistakes. I am also trying to control my repetition just to where it is important to the story.


	3. Baby Showers and Lost Powers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nijimura and Tatsuya go buy breakfast with Akashi and Murasakibara. Nijimura wishes he could buy Akashi an attitude adjustment. Meanwhile, Momoi calls in the cavalry. Someone please stop me from writing so many alliterative phrases.

Regardless of his (fruitless) attempts at cultivating a ‘poker face’ image, Tatsuya was no stranger to road rage. Nijimura knew to keep quiet lest Tatsuya remind him that said road rage was born from having to drive halfway across L.A. to hang out with him on the weekends. Although, sitting shotgun with Akashi gripping his hand from the back row in apprehension (he refused to associate something so human as ‘fear’ with Akashi), he was sorely tempted to speak up. 

“You know,” Tatsuya said, tone even as he glared daggers at an elderly woman to their left who cut into the intersection. “People gave me so much crud during Driver’s Ed class. All Asians are bad drivers or something. It ticked me off so bad, but I’m starting to think there was a little truth in that stereotype.”

“That is absurd,” Akashi murmured before Nijimura could squeeze his hand in warning. “There are plenty of competent civilian drivers. Some of the top F1 racers are of Japanese ethnicity. You are simply unaccustomed to Japanese traffic laws.” 

“Fascinating. How far are we from the supermarket, Shuu?” Unlike Nijimura, Tatsuya knew to take the high road when talked back to by a child and instead mouthed an English swear word to a speeding SUV. 

“Just take the next turn, it should be two blocks after that.” Nijimura adjusted the GPS. 

“Thank you.” 

“No problem.” Tatsuya was generally a no-bullshit kind of guy. Nijimura respected that.

“Not all Japanese drivers are good at driving, though. I doubt I could see the road at this height-” _Prince I-must-never-do-wrong, however..._

“It’s okay, Akashi.” 

“It cannot be, not when I merely turned the stereotype around instead of dispelling the concept that an entire race-”

“Let it go. Everybody makes mistakes.” _Nobody else I know treats it like eternal damnation._

Akashi obeyed this command until the final block. “No, it is not ‘okay’. I must apologize to Himuro-san for mocking his culture shock.” 

“It’s fine, Akashi. I ought to be the one apologizing, really.” Tatsuya tried his hardest to conceal a grin at Akashi's concern. “We’re here.” 

“I got the list,” Murasakibara yawned as he pulled out two slips of paper from odd-fitting shorts (which were actually Tatsuya’s). “And some snacks I want. Let’s go.” 

 

Immediately upon entering the supermarket, Murasakibara hooked a relatively small hand around Tatsuya’s wrist and made a beeline for the snack aisle, flinging the primary shopping list behind him. 

Akashi retrieved the list and looked up at Nijimura, his tiny face scrunched up in frustration. “What? Do you want to drag me around, too?”

“I cannot read Himuro-san’s handwriting.” Akashi pointed to a particularly daunting line of messy cursive. 

“I can’t read cursive, period.” _I started cutting classes during the cursive unit._

“I was taught cursive at age seven, but did not find use for it it until I was in sixth grade. Perhaps I could’ve decoded it at my true age.” 

“What do you mean, you can’t do something you could do just yesterday?” 

“My mental state is a fusion of my teenage and child self. Although I have retained all my memories, my brain functions at the rate of a child. Please do not question the reasoning behind this hypothesis.” _Or you’ll throw a tantrum?_

“Sure.” Did Akashi ever speak this formally at Teikou? “Anyway, we still need to get breakfast. Let’s just go for some ready-made meals.” Nijimura held out an index finger.

“Excellent idea.” Akashi’s expression brightened as he guided the finger around the store. 

 

"…and that's about it," the alarmingly gorgeous foreigner with Kagami on her hip said to Takao. 

"Has anyone taken a shot at how this happened?" Takao whispered, careful not to wake his napping team mate. _Shin-chan looks older than Kagami, but still younger than when I faced off against him in middle school._

"Momoi guessed it was the candy. Although she ate a few pieces, too, everyone else who has ended up like this." 

Takao stared at Midorima again. That was just about his guess, too. Takao couldn't help but consider how valuable she would have been to Shuutoku. "What's the candy made of?"

"Unclear. The wrappers are pretty faded. It appears to be an Iberian snack. I kinda remember eating things like this."

"Your last name is Garcia, right? Then why don't you give them a call?"

"I only spoke Spanish at home. It was just enough to make small talk, really. I actually had to call my dad and have him translate. What he could make of it was that the manufacturer is based in Marbella. But when he called them, there was a message saying the number was out of service." Midorima began to stir.

Being woken up at 6 AM on a Sunday wasn’t really Takao’s idea of fun. Especially when it meant that a woman he had seen in passing once thought it a good idea to guilt him into babysitting her former team. But Midorima needed him. It would make a nice change of pace to see him so vulnerable. “How long has Shin-chan been napping?”

“Fifteen minutes,” Midorima answered. “You were running late, and I grew weary.” 

“Silly Midorima-cchi,” Kise said. “You’ve been sleep-talking about Takao for an hour.” 

Midorima attempted to contest this, but really just ended up a stuttering mess. Typical.

“Awww, Shin-chan, I’m honored. And you’re even cuter as a kid.” 

“I am not cute. Nor am I a child.” 

“Then how would you explain being two thirds the height of today’s lucky double meter stick?” 

“Do not be fooled by appearances. I can assure you that I am no different mentally.” 

“So says the boy who shot his math homework into the trashbin when he couldn’t figure out the first problem-ssu.” 

While Midorima continued to bicker with his former teammate, Momoi entered the room with Aomine on her back. “This is a mad house.” 

“Sorry for this being so last minute,” Momoi sighed. “But you are the only one who can handle Midorima-kun so well.” _Even compared to the people who played with him for three years?_

“And how do you know that?” 

Momoi handed him a green folder containing equations and several graphs. “I haven’t seen too many interactions between you and Midorima, but based on his reaction time and intensity, no one else has moved him so much.” 

Takao flipped through her work. _These equations are about what our seniors are working on, but who could possibly have the intuition to carry them to such conclusions?_ “I’ll trust you on that. So, who else is coming to offer reinforcement?” 

“Kise-kun’s captain, Kasamatsu Yukio. Also, our former captain, Nijimura Shuuzou, is with Akashi-kun and Murasakibara-kun and Yousen’s Shooting Guard, Himuro Tatsuya.” 

“Kaijou’s Point Guard? Sweet, that guy’s like, my inspiration.” This could be a good chance to pick up some tips. Maybe it would be a fun week, after all.

 

"Can we please buy some tofu soup?" Akashi was already steering Nijimura to the pre-prepared meals section.

"I was thinking more along the lines of cup ramen," Nijimura tugged back with a scowl.Akashi stopped in place, tightening his grip.

"Athletes need to control their sodium intake." So began the strangest one-on-one the two ever had.

"Part-timers juggling two jobs can't be pickers." 

"We can compensate you when we get home." 

"The soup won't stay warm in the time it takes to drive home."

"The cups are insulated-"

"And we have an electric tea kettle in each room. No bowls. Do the others even like tofu soup?"

To this, Akashi tore himself from Nijimura's hand and stormed off to fill their basket with cup ramen. This was getting ridiculous. Child or whatever, Nijimura was hoping for more cooperation from his vice-captain. Captain. Whatever. 

 

“Ah,” Tatsuya came up from behind. “a lover’s quarrel.” 

“Can you not bring that up?” Nijimura whispered. “He’s a kid now. That’s so many kinds of wrong.” 

Tatsuya paused, then chuckled at their grocery cart. “Somebody likes crappy cup ramen.”

“Well somebody doesn’t have to write a list in cursive for someone who barely knows English.” 

“Let’s go home,” Murasakibara tugged on the drawstrings of Tatsuya’s jacket. “Muro-chin was thinking of something like instant noodles, anyways. And I can’t eat my snacks until we buy them.”

Nijimura knew was no point in bickering with Tatsuya when allies were few and far between and swatted the small giant’s hands away from his friend. Momoi’s contacts had to be perfect at managing the Generation of Miracles if this was going to last a day. It was enough taking care of Akashi, who was supposed to be their captain, their unwavering support. 

 

All he could see now was a child in baggy clothes, trying to maintain control over powers far stronger than him. A child just like him at ten, who could only ever speak eloquently with his fists. Parallels could even be drawn to now, when he had the adult world right at his heels and nothing but broken dreams to offer it. How long was this little Akashi forced to play the role of a boy-king? Nijimura wished it didn’t have to take cursed candy for him to guess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW. Who knew college could be time consuming AT ALL????? 
> 
> Hey, I'm back. Still need a babysitter to make me update. Thank you for all of your kudos and lovely comments! They really help me through writer's block.

**Author's Note:**

> First fic in years. Sorry if it's a bit rusty. Feedback and even a beta reader would be appreciated. Thank you for reading! Not too sure about the title...


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